Combination of a material and a bath fluid for use in rapid prototyping methods

A method for producing an element comprising:

• (a) producing an element layer on a building support by selectively applying the building material by drop-on-demand technique
• (b) filling recesses in the element layer by applying support fluid (bath fluid) having a density higher than that of the building material in such a way that the upper side of the element layer and the support fluid form an aligned surface,
• (c) producing an element layer on the aligned surface of the preceding layer by selectively applying building material by means of a drop-on-demand technique, the building material being applied in the surface areas formed by support fluid in such a sequence that it is added laterally to the parts of the element layer already applied,
• (d) producing further layers by repeating steps (b) and (c), each time, and
• (e) separating the element from the support fluid.

A method for producing an element comprising:

• (a) producing one or more element layers, preferably 1 to 5 layers, on a building support by selectively applying building material by drop-on-demand technique, the building support being positioned in a bath fluid in such a way that the surface of the building support is 10 to 700 μm above the surface of the bath fluid,
• (b) lowering the building support, until the top layer of the element is completely lowered below the bath surface,
• (c) raising the building support, until the top layer of the element is 10 to 700 μm above the surface of the bath fluid, with recesses in the top layer of the element being filled by the bath fluid,
• (d) producing further element layers (preferably 1 to 5 layers) by selectively applying building material by means of a drop-on-demand technique, wherein the new element layer(s) can also exceed the area formed by the preceding layers and wherein the parts of the new layer(s) not applied on the preceding element layers are supported by the bath fluid,
• (e) producing further layers by repeating the steps (b), (c), and (d), each time, and
• (f) separating the element from the bath fluid.

A method for producing an element comprising:

• (a) producing an element layer on a building support by selectively applying a building material by drop-on-demand technique, the building support being positioned in a bath fluid in such a way that the surface of the building support is positioned one layer thickness below the surface of the bath fluid,
• (b) lowering the building support by one layer thickness,
• (c) producing a further element layer by selectively applying building material by means of a drop-on-demand technique, wherein the new element layer(s) can also exceed the area formed by the preceding layers and wherein the parts of the new layer(s) not applied on the preceding element layers are supported by the bath fluid,
• (d) producing further layers by repeating steps (b) and (c), each time, and
• (e) separating the element from the bath fluid.